Sir Dave Brailsford, the mastermind behind cycling's success on the road and
track, has suggested that football is a sport he "would look at,"
suggesting the England team could learn from psychological methods he has
employed at British Cycling and Team Sky.

Meeting of minds: Sir Dave Brailsford meets Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager, at the National Cycling CentrePhoto: GETTY IMAGES

The head of British Cycling, who was knighted earlier this year alongside Bradley Wiggins who under Brailsford's guidance became the first Briton to win the Tour de France, was speaking at a conference in London on Monday when he said he would consider transferring his managerial skills to football.

"Football is something I would look at," Brailsford said while admitting that he admired Everton manager David Moyes who ""does an unbelievably good job."

While Brailsford's ability to mould a world-class team on the road or track is undoubted – both Team Sky and the British Cycling track team were the No 1 ranked teams last season – history has proved that a move into football is not always as straightforward as it may appear from the outside of the game.

Following England's 2003 Rugby World Cup triumph Sir Clive Woodward, after unsuccessfully leading the British and Irish Lions to a 3-0 defeat in New Zealand, moved into football when he joined Southampton as performance director in 2005.

Despite reportedly having a fractious working relationship with members of the coaching staff, Woodward, despite having no experience of the game and taken no coaching badges, was later appointed as director of football. Unsurprisingly, Woodward's time in football was short-lived and in August 2006 left St Mary's.

Brailsford, though, believes football can learn from cycling and that Roy Hosgson's team need to tame their "inner chimp" if they are to progress in major tournaments, specifically when faced by penalty shoot-outs.

"In sport people talk about the zone, switch off the frontal lobe, emotional engagement," Brailsford said. "Switch off the chimp. Penalty kicks are a great example [of how] silencing the chimp would be beneficial."

Brailsford, added that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson's ability to control conflict withing his club is key to their success.

"You never read about conflict like you do with most other managers and clubs," he said. "I think his drive and ability to manage people [is impressive]. His knack is to retain total control about what goes on at that club."

Meanwhile, when asked about the recent stories of institutionalised doping in cycling, specifically on the road, Brailsford likened cyclists' habits, slightly bizarrely, to that of a crack cocaine user.

"To me [the riders who doped] are not bad people as such," he said. "It is similar to someone having their first joint and then moving onto ecstasy or whatever. Then the next thing you know it is everyone on crack cocaine."